Tagging email and providing tag clouds field of the invention

ABSTRACT

A system and method is provided for tracking and/or organizing email and, in particular, a system and method for tagging email in Web 2.0 applications and using the tags in tag clouds is provided. The system includes a computing system that has first program instructions to generate tag clouds having tags linked to associated emails in a collaborative application. A computer readable media stores the first program instructions and a central processing unit executes the first program instructions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is application is a continuation application of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/186,111 and now U.S. Published PatentApplication No. 2010-0036856A1 filed Aug. 5, 2008, now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to a system and method of trackingand/or organizing email and, in particular, a system and method fortagging email in Web 2.0 applications and using the tags in tag clouds.

BACKGROUND

Electronic mail, e.g., e-mail, is a store-and-forward method of writing,sending, receiving and saving messages that has become ubiquitous intoday's society, used for both personal and business applications. Emailis a system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) that canbe used in a distributed computing environment over many differentplatforms and network systems. For example, email can be useful and isapplicable to various mainframe, minicomputer or intranet systemsallowing users within one organization to send messages to each other insupport of workgroup collaboration. Intranet systems may be based onproprietary protocols supported by a particular system vendor, or on thesame protocols used on public networks.

Messages are exchanged between hosts using the SMTP using softwareprograms called mail transfer agents (MTA). Users can download theirmessages from servers with standard protocols such as the POP or IMAPprotocols, or using a proprietary protocol specific to Lotus Notes(Lotus Notes is a registered trademark of International BusinessMachines), as one example. EMail can be stored on the client, on theserver side, or in both places.

In a typical email exchange, several steps may take place in order tohave an email exchange. For example, the user may select an address froman address book, compose an email and then send the email to therecipient. Once the email is sent, the MUA (Mail User Application)formats the message in a usable format such as, for example, Internetemail format and uses the SMTP to send the message to the local MTA. TheMTA looks at the destination address provided in the SMTP protocol andthe domain name to find the mail exchange servers accepting messages forthat domain. The appropriate DNS server responds with a record listingthe mail exchange servers for that domain. The message is then sent andstored on the selected mail exchange server. This is typically referredto as point-to-point email. The recipient can then retrieve the email.

In point-to-point emails, the recipient receives the email directly fromhis or her mail server. Problematic, though, is that the recipient canreceive hundreds of emails in the course of a day of over another timeperiod. This can add up to thousands of emails over a course of a weekor longer. As such, it becomes very difficult to organize these emailsand determine their importance and/or priorities.

SUMMARY

In a first aspect of the invention, a computing system includes firstprogram instructions to generate tag clouds having tags linked toassociated emails in a collaborative application. A computer readablemedia stores the first program instructions and a central processingunit executes the first program instructions.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for generating tag cloudsfor emails is stored in a central location and accessible to acollaborative community. The method comprises providing a computerinfrastructure operable to generate the tag clouds from one or moredescriptors provided by authorized users having access to a select groupof the emails, the descriptors being associated with tags that arelinked to the emails.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer program product isprovided for protecting web applications from malicious attacks. Thecomputer program product comprises: a computer readable medium; firstprogram instructions to provide authorization to selected users toreview emails in a central location; second program instructions togenerate tags from descriptive words describing content in the emailsand place the tags into the tag clouds; third program instructions tohyperlink the tags to selected ones of the emails; and fourth programinstructions to filter the tag clouds. The first, second, third andfourth program instructions are stored on the computer readable mediaand executed on a central processing unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in the detailed description whichfollows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way ofnon-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment for implementing the steps inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an interface for a tag cloud generator in accordance withan aspect of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows another interface for a tag cloud generator in accordancewith an aspect of the invention; and

FIGS. 4-7 are flow diagrams showing processes in accordance withdifferent aspects of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention generally relates to a system and method of trackingand/or organizing email and, in particular, a system and method fortagging email in Web 2.0 applications and using the tags in tag clouds.The invention is particularly well-suited to organize emails anddetermine their importance and/or priorities using tag clouds. This canbe accomplished within a collaborative environment such as, for example,in Web 2.0 applications.

More specifically, in embodiments, email will be sent to a centrallocation, which features a subscription model (compared to a point topoint email system). The subscription model enables the email sender,email recipient and/or administrator of the Web 2.0 collaborative emailsite to select the authorized users. The authorized users may, in turn,tag the emails with such descriptive words which are then converted intotags within tag clouds. In implementation, the tag clouds will allowusers the ability to easily find relevant emails and, as importantly,navigate and filter emails, amongst hundreds and even thousands or moreof emails.

Those of skill in the art will recognize that Web 2.0 is a term todescribe World Wide Web technology aimed at information sharing andcollaboration. These concepts have led web-based communities such aswikis, blogs and other social networking sites that encourage userparticipation. Also, a tag cloud is a stylized way of visuallyrepresenting occurrences of words used to describe tags, where a tag isan html-encoded link that can be accessed using any number of webbrowsing applications.

In embodiments, the tag cloud is generated in real-time, and theappearance of one or more words within the tag cloud may change eachtime a user tags an email with a descriptive word. Once a tag cloud iscreated from the user assigned words, a user may select a word from thetag cloud, wherein the word is hyperlinked or otherwise connected to oneor more relevant emails. The user can then select the most appropriateemail, from the list of emails.

EXEMPLARY SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a system, method or computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program productembodied in any tangible medium of expression having computer-usableprogram code embodied in the medium.

Any combination of one or more computer usable or computer readablemedium(s) may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readablemedium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustivelist) of the computer-readable medium would include the following:

-   -   a portable computer diskette,    -   a hard disk,    -   a random access memory (RAM),    -   a read-only memory (ROM),    -   an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash        memory),    -   a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM),    -   an optical storage device, and/or        The computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be        paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is        printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via, for        instance, optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then        compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable        manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. The        present invention can be used on a virtual instance of a        computer (virtual machine), like VMWARE or XEN.

In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readablemedium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate,propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer usableprogram code may be transmitted using any appropriate transmission mediavia a network.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including an object oriented programming language such asJava, Smalltalk, C++, AJAX, JSON (e.g., to present a tag cloud on theemail client) or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork. This may include, for example, a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment 10 for managing the processesin accordance with the invention. To this extent, the environment 10includes a server or other computing system 12 that can perform theprocesses described herein. The computing system 12 can be implementedas a Web 2.0 server, which allows for collaboration amongst users. Theserver 12 includes a computing device 14. The computing device 14 can beresident on a network infrastructure or computing device of a thirdparty service provider (any of which is generally represented in FIG. 1)such as a Web 2.0 server.

The computing device 14 includes a Tag Cloud Generator (module orprogram code) 14 a configured to make computing device 14 operable toperform the services described herein. The Tag Cloud Generator 14 a canbe implemented as one or more program codes stored in memory 22A, asseparate or combined modules. In an illustrative example, the Tag CloudGenerator 14 is configured to generate tag clouds for tagging emails inWeb 2.0 applications.

More specifically, the Tag Cloud Generator 14 a can generate a tag cloudhaving one or more user assigned words (or other descriptors, symbols,letters numbers, etc.) within the tag cloud, wherein the user assignedwords may be visually distinguishable from one another and connected tothe emails, e.g., via a hyperlink. By using the tag clouds, users havethe ability to easily find relevant emails and, as importantly, easilynavigate and filter emails by simply selecting a term or terms in thetag cloud. The Tag Cloud Generator 14 a also allows the authorized usersto add go, delete from, and/or otherwise edit the tag cloud.

The Tag Cloud Generator 14 a can score or weight the words assigned bythe users. The score/weight is representative of how important orpopular a user assigned word is within the collaborative website. Anynumber of factors may be considered when scoring/weighing the words,such as the number of times the word is associated with one or moreemails, associated with a certain topic, etc.

In embodiments, an interface (FIGS. 2 and 3) to the Tag Cloud Generator14 a can present the tag cloud with words (tags) to the user, with themost used or highest scored or weighted words being shown in larger orbolder text, for example. More specifically, the tag cloud displays theuser assigned words differently within the tag cloud based on theirimportance or popularity within the online community. For example,embodiments may change the size, color, font, location, etc., of a wordto indicate to a user the usage of a word in a plurality of emails.Hence, a user presented with a word in red Arial 24 point bold font caninfer the word is associated with more emails than a word presented inblack Times New Roman 12 point font. Each of the words in the tag cloudmay be hyperlinked, or otherwise connected, to the associated emails fordisplay on the user's computing device.

The Tag Cloud Generator 14 a features or is associated with asubscription tool 14 b that enables the email sender, email recipientand/or administrator of the Web 2.0 collaborative email site(infrastructure of FIG. 1) to select authorized users. These authorizedusers will have the ability to tag emails within the collaborative sitein order to show, visually, words that have been or are associated withemails. In the case of the email sender, the email can include a tagwindow (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) which allows the email sender to providea descriptive word or words, describing the content of the email at thetime of sending of the email. These tag windows can also be displayed tothe other authorized users. The Tag Cloud Generator 14 a will use thewords or other descriptors to generate a tag cloud.

As to the authorized users, including the email sender, each may haveaccess to review the emails and tag them with descriptive words ordescriptors to generate the tag clouds. As such, this community ofauthorized users can tag emails so that the tags can be visuallydisplayed in the tag cloud. In embodiments, the tag cloud is generatedin real-time using the Tag Cloud Generator 14 a. That is, as theauthorized email sender, email recipient and/or administrator canprovide descriptive word or words which can be immediately included inthe tag cloud. Once a tag cloud is created, a recipient (sender or otherauthorized user) may select a word from the tag cloud, which ishyperlinked or otherwise connected to one or more relevant emails.

The Tag Cloud Generator 14 a also features or is associated with afiltering tool 14 c. The filtering tool 14 c allows an email user tofilter the words to include, for example, more or less words in the tagcloud. The filter tool 14 c can also be configured to highlight wordsthat are above a certain threshold or have other user configurationsthat enable the email recipient to easily organize certain emails. Thefiltering tool 14 c may also filter based on authorized users. Forexample, the email recipient can filter the tag cloud to include tagsprovided by only the most trusted users or those users known to have themost knowledge in a certain field that is germane to the emailrecipient's current search and/or needs.

The computing device 14 also includes a processor 20, memory 22A, an I/Ointerface 24, and a bus 26. The memory 22A can include local memoryemployed during actual execution of program code, bulk storage, andcache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some programcode in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved frombulk storage during execution. In addition, the computing deviceincludes random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), and aCPU.

The computing device 14 is in communication with the external I/Odevice/resource 28 and the storage system 22B. For example, the I/Odevice 28 can comprise any device that enables an individual to interactwith the computing device 14 or any device that enables the computingdevice 14 to communicate with one or more other computing devices usingany type of communications link. The external I/O device/resource 28 maybe for example, the handheld device.

In general, the processor 20 executes computer program code such as theDNS Request Validation Service Tool 14 a, which can be stored in thememory 22A and/or storage system 22B. While executing the computerprogram code, the processor 20 can read and/or write data to/from memory22A, storage system 22B, and/or I/O interface 24. The program codeexecutes the processes of the invention. The bus 26 provides acommunications link between each of the components in the computingdevice 14.

The computing device 14 can comprise any general purpose computingarticle of manufacture capable of executing computer program codeinstalled thereon (e.g., a personal computer, server, handheld device,etc.). However, it is understood that the computing device 14 is onlyrepresentative of various possible equivalent-computing devices that mayperform the processes described herein. To this extent, in embodiments,the functionality provided by the computing device 14 can be implementedby a computing article of manufacture that includes any combination ofgeneral and/or specific purpose hardware and/or computer program code.In each embodiment, the program code and hardware can be created usingstandard programming and engineering techniques, respectively.

Similarly, the server 12 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inembodiments, the server 12 comprises two or more computing devices(e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over any type ofcommunications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or the like, toperform the process described herein. Further, while performing theprocesses described herein, one or more computing devices on the server12 can communicate with one or more other computing devices external tothe server 12 using any type of communications link. The communicationslink can comprise any combination of wired and/or wireless links; anycombination of one or more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a widearea network, a local area network, a virtual private network, etc.);and/or utilize any combination of transmission techniques and protocols.

In embodiments, the invention provides a business method that performsthe steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or feebasis. In this case, the service provider can create, maintain, deploy,support, etc., the computer infrastructure that performs the processsteps of the invention for one or more customers. These customers maybe, for example, any third party computing system. In return, theservice provider can receive payment from the customer(s) under asubscription and/or fee agreement and/or the service provider canreceive payment from the sale of advertising content to one or morethird parties.

EXEMPLARY PROCESSES

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an interface for a Tag CloudGenerator according to an aspect of the invention. As discussed above, atag cloud is a stylized way of visually representing occurrences ofwords used to describe tags. A tag is an html-encoded link that can beaccessed using any number of web browsing applications. Therefore, a tagcloud is a way to graphically show content of email by presentinggraphical linkable words to a user, whereby the linking may be done viahyperlink or other mechanism. The words within the tag cloud areconfigured to emphasize the relative importance or popularity of theuser assigned words within an online community (email).

Specifically. FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an interface for a TagCloud Generator and its representative features. For example, theinterface can include a tag tab 105 and a people tag 110 (discussed withreference to FIG. 3). The tag tab 105 directs the user to the tag cloud100 and its related functions. These functions can include, for example,a list of active tags 115 and filtered tag function 120. The active tags115 are those words shown representatively at reference numeral 125. Theactive tags 115 can be entered by the user directly into the tag cloudat location 130.

In FIG. 2, the words are of different fonts, sizes and shapes,indicating a weight or usage give to the words (or other descriptors),e.g., how many times the community has used the word to describe one ormore emails. In this non-limiting illustrative example, the tag cloudgraphically shows the more popular words in larger type. Therefore, themost used word in FIG. 2 is “IBM” and the least used word is “wiki” todescribe the content of the emails. In this example, the user can easilyidentify emails that contain content associated with IBM such as, forexample, product lists, services, etc.

By the user selecting “IBM” in the tag cloud, all emails associated withIBM will be displayed to the user, as the word “IBM” has been linked tosuch emails by the Tag Cloud Generator. That is, the words appearing inthe tag cloud may be hyperlinked or otherwise connected to a list ofrelevant emails, whereby a user can click on a word appearing in the tagcloud and be directed to one or more relevant emails.

It should be understood that other schemes can also be used such as, forexample, color, font type, etc. to determine the importance of a word.For example, in addition to changing the size, color, font, etc., of aword in a tag cloud, embodiments may also change the location of wordswithin a tag cloud to illustrate the importance of one or more wordswithin the tag cloud.

The filter tag 120 (associated with the filter tool 14 b) may be used bythe user to filter words such as, for example, connections, etc. Thiswill allow the user to view only certain words above a threshold. Forexample, the word “connections” can be filtered, e.g., removed, from thetag cloud if it was used less than two times, i.e., below a threshold.In embodiments, the filter tag 120 can include a search box, for theuser to search for certain words that may be associated with content ofemails. The filter tag may be controlled by a metering system 135. Thefilter can be configured to highlight words that are above a certainthreshold or have other user configurations that enable the emailrecipient to easily organize certain emails.

FIG. 3 shows the people tag 110 screen in accordance with an aspect ofthe invention. By selecting the people tag 110, the user can selectauthorized users 140 as well as filter certain users 145 (associatedwith the filter tool 14 b and subscription tool 14 c). This screen alsoshows the current users at reference numeral 150.

PROCESSES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INVENTION

FIGS. 4-7 are flow diagrams showing processes performed by Tag CloudGenerator program 14 a (stored in disk storage 22B for execution byprocessor 20 via memory 22 a) in accordance with different aspects ofthe invention. The steps of FIGS. 4-7 may be implemented on the computerinfrastructure of FIG. 1, for example. The flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, andoperation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computerprogram products according to various embodiments of the presentinvention. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or blockdiagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, whichcomprises one or more executable instructions for implementing thespecified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in somealternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occurout of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown insuccession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or theblocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending uponthe functionality involved. Each block of the flowcharts, andcombinations of the flowchart illustrations can be implemented byspecial purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware andcomputer instructions and/or software, as described above.

Referring to FIG. 4, at step 201, a user starts the email client. Atstep 202, the email is composed on the email client. In an optionalembodiment, at step 203, the sender can choose to tag the email at thestage. The tagging is accomplished with the aid of the Tag CloudGenerator 14 a. In embodiments, the email sender can provide descriptiveword or words which can be immediately included in the tag cloud. Once atag cloud is created, a recipient (sender or other authorized user) mayselect a word from the tag cloud, which is hyperlinked or otherwiseconnected to one or more relevant emails.

At step 204, the email gets published on the RSS server as an RSS feeddocument. At step 205, authorized uses can add additional tags to theemail with the aid of the Tag Cloud Generator 14 a. That is, as theauthorized user can provide descriptive word or words which can beimmediately included in the tag cloud. At step 206, an RSS feed to theemail RSS document is sent to the recipients, at which time therecipient can interact with the tagged email at step 207. Some of theiterations include search emails by a keyword used during tagging.Search emails by a name used as a tag or even add additional tags forlater retrieval and/or social interaction with additional users.

FIG. 5 shows a new email use case in accordance with aspects of theinvention. In particular, at step 501, the user starts an email program.At step 502, the tagging widget (e.g., Tag Cloud Generator) is loadedduring the email program initialization routine. At step 503, theprogram control determines whether the tagging widget is loaded. If not,the process reverts back to step 502.

If the tagging widget is loaded, at step 504, the user creates a newtag. At step 505, the tagging widget determines whether the tag is a newtag or an existing tag. This can be done by a look up to a database. Ifthe tag is an existing tag, at step 506, the tagging widget retrievesthe tag and, at step 507, presents the tag to the user. At step 508, thetagging widget records use of the tag. If the tag is a new tag, at step509, the tagging widget captures the tag. At step 510, the taggingwidget determines whether there are any additional tags. If not, at step511, the email is posted as an RSS document to the RSS server. If thereare any additional tags, the process reverts back to step 505.

FIG. 6 shows an RSS feed reader use case in accordance with aspects ofthe invention. In particular, at step 601, the user opens an emailprogram. At step 602, the program control provides access to an RSSemail feed link. At step 603, a tagging widget (e.g., Tag CloudGenerator) is loaded during the email program initialization routine. Atstep 604, the program control determines whether the tagging widget isloaded. If not, the process reverts back to step 603.

If the tagging widget is loaded, at step 605, the user creates a newtag. At step 606, the tagging widget determines whether the tag is a newtag or an existing tag. In embodiments, the program control checks witha Back End (BE) component for the creation state of the tag. If the BEcomponent returns an ‘existing’ state flag, the program controlretrieves the tag from the BE component, at step 607. At step 608, thetagging widget presents the tag to the user. At step 609, the taggingwidget captures the user decision and records use of the tag. Also, ifthe tag is an existing tag as determined at step 606, at step 610, thetagging widget captures the tag. At step 611, the tagging widgetdetermines if there are any additional tags. If yes, then the processreturns to step 605. If not, the tagging widget updates the email as anRSS document to the RSS server.

FIG. 7 shows a back end tagging system process in accordance withaspects of the invention. At step 701, the Back End (BE) tagging systemis started by the system administrator. At step 702, the program controlchecks for the tagging service availability. If loaded successfully, atstep 703, the tagging request handler (tagging widget) is ready toaccept RESTful service call for tags. At step 704, a call is made to thea Tag Request processor component. At step 705, the program controlchecks for the validity of the Web Service tagging request. If the tagrequest call is valid, at step 706, a query is made to the database toestablish the state of the tag. The options may include, for example, anew tag, not available on the database or existing tag, tag has beenused before, etc. A response is sent to a Front End (FE) component ofthe tagging widget with the creation state of the tag. At step 707, ifthere is a new tag, the tagging widget will send the new tag to thedatabase. At step 708, tag writer service component of the taggingwidget captures the tag selected by the users. The process then returnsto step 703 for the next query.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements, if any, in the claims below areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of the present invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system for accessing an e-mail, thecomputer system comprising: one or more processors, one or morecomputer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangiblestorage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, theprogram instructions comprising: program instructions to receive thee-mail at a web site from a sender of the e-mail for posting, and postthe e-mail at the web site for retrieval by one or more addresseesspecified in the e-mail; program instructions to (a) receive at the website, from the one or more addressees, specification of one or moredescriptive tags for the e-mail and correlate the one or moredescriptive tags to the e-mail, and (b) prevent correlation to thee-mail of a descriptive tag from a person who is not the sender of thee-mail, not an addressee of the e-mail and not an administrator of theweb site; program instructions to receive from one of the addressees asubsequent key word search for the one or more descriptive tags; programinstructions, responsive to the subsequent key word search beingreceived from one of the addressees and matching the one or moredescriptive tags and the correlation of the one or more descriptive tagsto the e-mail, to identify the e-mail to the one addressee; and programinstructions, responsive to identification by the sender or the one ormore addressees of another person, who is not the sender of the e-mail,not an addressee of the e-mail and not an administrator of the web site,as authorized to post a descriptive tag for the e-mail, to receive atthe web site, from the other person, specification of anotherdescriptive tag for the email and correlate the other descriptive tag tothe e-mail such that a subsequent key word search for the otherdescriptive tag will yield the e-mail.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe one or more descriptive tags for the e-mail received at the web sitefrom the one or more addressees describe content of the e-mail.
 3. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the web site is an RSS feed site andfurther comprising program instructions, stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, responsiveto the posting of the e-mail on the web site, to notify the one or moreaddressees that an e-mail addressed to the one or more addressees hasbeen posted on the web site.
 4. The computer system of claim 1, whereinthe program instructions to identify the e-mail include programinstructions to prevent identification of the e-mail to another personwho is not the sender of the e-mail, not an addressee of the e-mail andnot an administrator of the web site regardless of whether the otherperson requests a key word search for the one or more descriptive tags.5. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devicesfor execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at leastone of the one or more memories, to forward the identified e-mail to theone addressee from whom the key word search was received.
 6. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the program instructions to receiveand correlate one or more the descriptive tags include programinstructions to (a) receive at the web site, from the sender of thee-mail along with the e-mail, specification of one or more descriptivetags for the e-mail and correlate to the e-mail the one or moredescriptive tags received from the sender along with the one or moredescriptive tags received from the one or more addressees; and furthercomprising: program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, to receive fromanother of the addressees a subsequent key word search for the one ormore descriptive tags received from the one or more addressees or thesender; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, responsive tothe subsequent key word search being received from one of the addresseesand matching the one or more descriptive tags received from the one ormore addressees or the sender and the correlation to the e-mail of theone or more descriptive tags received from the one or more addressees orthe sender, to identify the e-mail to the other addressee.
 7. Thecomputer system of claim 6, further comprising program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for executionby at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of theone or more memories, to forward to the other addressee the e-mailidentified in response to the key word search received from the otheraddressee.
 8. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devicesfor execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at leastone of the one or more memories, to display the one or more descriptivetags in a tag cloud associated with the e-mail.
 9. The computer systemof claim 1, further comprising program instructions, stored on at leastone of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one ofthe one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories,to receive from another of the addressees a request to delete aspecified descriptive tag, and in response, to delete the correlation tothe e-mail of the specified descriptive tag, such that if one of theaddressees subsequently submits a key word search for the specifieddescriptive tag, the e-mail will not be identified to the addresseewhich submitted the key word search for the specified descriptive tag.10. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising: programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devicesfor execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at leastone of the one or more memories, to receive from the one or moreaddressees identification of another person, who is not the sender ofthe e-mail, not an addressee of the e-mail and not an administrator ofthe web site, to be authorized to submit descriptive tags for thee-mail; and wherein the program instructions to receive and correlateone ore more the descriptive tags include program instructions to (a)receive at the web site, from the other person, the specification of oneor more descriptive tags for the e-mail and correlate to the e-mail theone or more descriptive tags received from the other person along withthe one or more descriptive tags received from the one or moreaddressees; and further comprising: program instructions, stored on atleast one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at leastone of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or morememories, to receive from one of the addressees a subsequent key wordsearch for the one or more descriptive tags received from the otherperson; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or moreprocessors via at least one of the one or more memories, responsive tothe subsequent key word search being received from one of the addresseesand matching the one or more descriptive tags subsequently received fromthe other person and the correlation to the e-mail of the one or moredescriptive tags received from the other person, to identify the e-mailto the one addressee who submitted the subsequent key word search.
 11. Acomputer program product for accessing an e-mail, the computer programproduct comprising: one or more computer-readable tangible storagedevices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices, the program instructions comprising: programinstructions to receive the e-mail at a web site from a sender of thee-mail for posting, and post the e-mail at the web site for retrieval byone or more addressees specified in the e-mail; program instructions to(a) receive at the web site, from the one or more addressees,specification of one or more descriptive tags for the e-mail andcorrelate the one or more descriptive tags to the e-mail, and (b)prevent correlation to the e-mail of a descriptive tag from a person whois not the sender of the e-mail, not an addressee of the e-mail and notan administrator of the web site; program instructions to receive fromone of the addressees a subsequent key word search for the one or moredescriptive tags; program instructions, responsive to the subsequent keyword search being received from one of the addressees and matching theone or more descriptive tags and the correlation of the one or moredescriptive tags to the e-mail, to identify the e-mail to the oneaddressee;and program instructions, responsive to identification by thesender or the one or more addressees of another person, who is not thesender of the e-mail, not an addressee of the e-mail and not anadministrator of the web site, as authorized to post a descriptive tagfor the e-mail, to receive at the web site, from the other person,specification of another descriptive tao for the email and correlate theother descriptive tag to the e-mail such that a subsequent key wordsearch for the other descriptive tag will yield the e-mail.
 12. Thecomputer program product of claim 11, wherein the one or moredescriptive tags for the e-mail received at the web site from the one ormore addressees describe content of the e-mail.
 13. The computer programproduct of claim 11, wherein the web site is an RSS feed site, andfurther comprising program instructions, stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices, responsive to the posting of the e-mail onthe web site, to notify the one or more addressees that an e-mailaddressed to the one or more addressees has been posted on the web site.14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the programinstructions to identify the e-mail include program instructions toprevent identification of the e-mail to another person who is not thesender of the e-mail, not an addressee of the e-mail and not anadministrator of the web site regardless of whether the other personrequests a key word search for the one or more descriptive tags.
 15. Thecomputer program product of claim 12, further comprising programinstructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices,to forward the identified e-mail to the one addressee from whom the keyword search was received.
 16. The computer program product of claim 11,wherein the program instructions to receive and correlate one or morethe descriptive tags include program instructions to (a) receive at theweb site, from the sender of the e-mail along with the e-mail,specification of one or more descriptive tags for the e-mail andcorrelate to the e-mail the one or more descriptive tags received fromthe sender along with the one or more descriptive tags received from theone or more addressees; and further comprising: program instructions,stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receivefrom another of the addressees a subsequent key word search for the oneor more descriptive tags received from the one or more addressees or thesender; and program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices, responsive to the subsequent key word search beingreceived from one of the addressees and matching the one or moredescriptive tags received from the one or more addressees or the senderand the correlation to the e-mail of the one or more descriptive tagsreceived from the one or more addressees or the sender, to identify thee-mail to the other addressee.
 17. The computer program product of claim16, further comprising program instructions, stored on at least one ofthe one or more storage devices, to forward to the other addressee thee-mail identified in response to the key word search received from theother addressee.
 18. The computer program product of claim 11, furthercomprising program instructions, stored on at least one of the one ormore storage devices, to display the one or more descriptive tags in atag cloud associated with the e-mail.
 19. The computer program productof claim 11, further comprising program instructions, stored on at leastone of the one or more storage devices, to receive from another of theaddressees a request to delete a specified descriptive tag, and inresponse, to delete the correlation to the e-mail of the specifieddescriptive tag, such that if one of the addressees subsequently submitsa key word search for the specified descriptive tag, the e-mail will notbe identified to the addressee which submitted the key word search forthe specified descriptive tag.
 20. The computer program product of claim11, further comprising: program instructions, stored on at least one ofthe one or more storage, to receive from the one or more addresseesidentification of another person, who is not the sender of the e-mail,not an addressee of the e-mail and not an administrator of the web site,to be authorized to submit descriptive tags for the e-mail; and whereinthe program instructions to receive and correlate one or more thedescriptive tags include program instructions to (a) receive at the website, from the other person, specification of the one or moredescriptive tags for the e-mail and correlate to the e-mail the one ormore descriptive tags received from the other person along with the oneor more descriptive tags received from the one or more addressees; andfurther comprising: program instructions, stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices, to receive from one of the addressees asubsequent key word search for the one or more descriptive tags receivedfrom the other person; and program instructions, stored on at least oneof the one or more storage devices, responsive to the subsequent keyword search being received from one of the addressees and matching theone or more descriptive tags subsequently received from the other personand the correlation to the e-mail of the one or more descriptive tagsreceived from the other person, to identify the e-mail to the oneaddressee who submitted the subsequent key word search.